Distribution and exhibition sectors of indian film industry

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Even then number of people going to theatre is high in India. The Central Board of Film Certification of India cites on its website that every three months an audience as large as India's billion-strong population visit cinema halls. Indian exhibition sector is not adequate for meeting the needs of this high attendance. In India, exhibition market is divided into different centers according to the population and social & economic status of the place. They are called A, B and C centers. A center will have a greater population and market share compared to B and C centers. The best exhibition theaters are always situated at ‘A’ centers. B centers are usually situated in townships and sub-urban areas. Most of underdeveloped areas (like villages) come under C centers. Majority of Indian populations lives in C-centers. Single screen theatres Single screen cinema halls are divided in to A, B and C categories based on location as well as the kind of facilities they offer. An average ‘A ‘class theatre has more than 1000 seats capacity. ‘A’ class theatres are those where films are released first. They are situated in major towns and cities in prime locality and have good seating comforts, excellent up-to-date equipments, air-conditioning and parking facilities. Collection levels are very high in ‘A’ class theatres compared to ‘B’ and ‘C’ class theatres. In early days, films were first released in ‘A’ class theatres because the number of release prints was less as compared to theatres. In recent years, more prints have been distributing and so some ‘B’ centers are also getting new prints along with A centers. ‘C’ class theatres are situated in underdeveloped areas like villages. They do not have facilities like Air conditioning, Digital sound system, proper seating arrangement or parking place. Most of them are occasionally used as wedding halls or seminar halls because of the lesser income from movie screening. These theatre owners do not spend much money to improve the seating comforts or to keep pace with technological changes in equipments. Multiplexes Most of the theatres in India are single-screen theatres and not the highest quality, which has resulted in lower occupancy rates and lower ticket prices. This provided an opportunity for companies to take over such theatres on lease/contract basis (most of such theatres are owned by individuals who are running into losses and hence are

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